Ramadan fast-breaking meal in support of three hostages in Iraq

With the help of the Arab World Institute in Paris, Reporters Without Borders today organised an "iftar" (Ramadan fast-breaking meal) in solidarity with French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot and their driver-guide Mohammed Al-Joundi, who have been held hostage in Iraq for the past 78 days. The families of the hostages supported the initiative and some relatives attended. Chesnot's mother, Madame Chesnot, and his sister Anne-Marie were present along with Al-Joundi's brother-in-law, Ali Merhebi, and one of his sisters. The Malbrunot family voiced its support for the "iftar" even if it was unable to come to Paris to take part. The relatives were welcomed by Yves Guéna, the president of the World Arab Institute, its director-general, Nasser El Ansary, and Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard. "The period of Ramadan, which is sacred for all Muslims in the world, offers a new opportunity for us to reiterate our solidarity and our unity with the families of the hostages," Ménard said. "All French people, whatever their origin, remain fully mobilised so that our three colleagues may together recover their freedom very soon." Among those attending were many leading figures from the French Council for the Muslim Religion (CFCM), including Fouad Alaoui (the president of the Union of Islamic Organisations in France) and Abdallah Zekri (the representative of the Paris mosque), who had formed a delegation to go to the Middle East to seek the release of the hostages. Ambassadors and representatives of several Arab countries including Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Kuwait and Egypt also took part. Malbrunot, 41, a freelance journalist working for Le Figaro, Ouest-France and RTL, Chesnot, 38, a stringer for RFI and Radio France, and Al-Joundi, who had been their driver and guide for more than a year, were kidnapped on 20 August by the Islamic Army in Iraq.